Stiffened cloth



H. GOLDBERG STIFFENED CLOTH Feb. 2l, 1950 Filed March 15, 1948 :I IIIIII .lll

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Hold/061479.

Patented Feb. 2l, 1950 vs'r'FENED CLOTH I Hermine Goldberg, Omaha, Nebr., assigner of one-half to Ralph D. G01

dberg, maha,`Nebr.

Application Maren' 13, 1948, serial Ne. 14,689

This invention relates te a suffeneu doth, that' is one which is used as an insertin belts, brassires, shoulder pads, collars, etc., the vgeneral character of the stifened cloth being such'as to provide one which retains its stiffness in spite of y Z Claims. (Cl. 28-79) repeated wearing, laundering and cleaning and f 'at the same time-is soft andpliablegthus mak- -ing it comfortable tov wear and 'natural to behold.

One object of this invention is to' provide a stiffened cloth which, when incorporated in a l brassire or belt, etc., has suicient stiffness to be comparable with belting, crinoline, canvas', boned `materials and wired ones Without' the j disadvantages of these materialsthe rigidly stii ones being uncomfortable to' wear and unnatural yto look at, those like canvas, crinoline, etc. which depend for their stiffness on starch and glue sizing, becoming limp-when worn, laundered or dry cleaned because the starch and glue' sizing comes out.

bending and wires such as are used in brassires must generally be removed when laundering and many health authorities claim that the pres-sure from the wires is detrimental to health.

This stiiening material consists of a suitable,

Iiexible base such as one or more layers of ordinary felt cloth, stifening being accomplished by ordinary sewing machine stitching in rows, in one direction of the felt, but preferably length- Wise of the cloth and crosswise of the cloth. The

closer the stitching, the stiier the cloth becomes. Felt cloth is in itself relatively. soft and exible and has some stiffness too. It consists of wool or other fibres mattedtogether by means of pressure and rolling, but when felt is laundered or dry cleaned, it wads up and shrinks, and any pressure on it will stretch it out of shape since it is just matted fibres.

However, when felt is stitched as just described, the fibres cannot pull apart and when laundered or dry cleaned, the feltv does not wad or shrink or get stretched out of shape, also the stitching stiffens the felt, the

closer the stitching, thestiier the finished cloth and' yet it still retains its soft and Ipliable character which makes it comfortable to wear and more natural to behold. Therefore, it makes a `very desirable stiiiening base for brassires, belts,

' shoulder pads, collars, etc.

yWith these and other objects in view, my in- Boning prevents the body from Figure 1 illustrates a piece of lordinary felt cloth. i e

Figure 2 illustrates the same cloth (with the stippling of Figure l omitted for `greater clarity) stitched longitudinally;

Figure 3 illustrates'the clothstitched laterally, this figure, for clarity, omitting the longitudinal stitching thatwas performed in Figure 2. Figure 4 is an` enlarged swatch' of the cloth showing both the longitudinal and lateral stitching accomplished by the sewing operations illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective View of a skirt having a belt with'a portion of the belt broken away andA vshowing my stiiened cloth included therein asaninsert.

Figure 6 shows two layers of felt stitched together to make an extra heavypiece of stiening cloth to be used whenv ordinary stiffness isnot sucient.

Figure '7 is' a Apattern cut from the 'stilened cloth, the cloth then being used 'toform kthe brassire base.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a brassire base vmade from the pattern of Figure?, and

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a shoulder ad, using my stiifened cloth asV an insert therethat they-are retained in that conditionas a cloth duringnormal handling operations. Felt aloneyhowever, vwill not-stand laundering as the iihres pull apart thus wadding and shrinking and the pressure of a' finger can stretch the cloth. `In other words, felt-cannot be depended uponto maintain its originalshapewhen laundered or dry cleaned unless it is stitched as I have pre- .,.viously outlined. Y, e

the belt when Worn.

In Figure 2, I illustrate one step in my stiffening operation for the cloth I which consists of longitudinal stitching I2. This may be done on an ordinary sewing machine, the stitching being relatively close together as illustrated in the full size swatch of Figure 4. The stitching need not necessarily be uniform and it can accordingly be done on an ordinary sewing machine. In factory production, however, the best method is probably a row of sewing machine heads, each one sewing a row of stitching and the rows being as close as or le of an inch apart.

After the longitudinal stitch, I stitch the cloth laterally as at I4 and here again the stitching may be done uniformly with a plurality of sewing machine heads or in an irregular manner asv would be the result of guiding the cloth by hand in relation to a single sewing machine head. In that event, the stitching couldzig zag longitudinally and laterally across the cloth I0, turning the cloth around at the ends and sides as is obvious from the sewing patterns illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

The final stiifened cloth with both longitudinal and lateral stitching may then be cut to a desired pattern. For instance, a long strip indicated at Illa on Figure 5 may be cut to serve as the stiffening for the belt of a skirt I6. In any event, the felt cloth ID, stiffened by the stitching I2 and I4 provides an insert which gives the necessary stiffness to prevent wrinkling down of The stiffenlng strip Illa may be stitched in the belt by means of several rows of machine stitches if desired. Belts with inserts of stiffening material such as belting, crinoline, canvas, etc. depend on starch and glue sizing for their stiffness and when worn, laundered or dry cleaned,` the starch or glue comes out and the belt becomes limp and wrinkles down into a string around the waist. This is both unsightly and uncomfortable to wear. Also the stitched felt stiifening material has another advantage over the starch and glue sizing type of stiffening because it is soft and flexible and at the same time retains its stiffl ness even when laundered or dry cleaned while they have a stiffness which resembles paper and after use, they lose their sizing and become limp.

The stitching, as stated before, prevents waddingl and shrinking or stretching of the felt and also makes the felt stiffer according to theamount of stitching done on it-the closer the stitching, the stiffer the finished piece.

Stiifenng cloth of the character disclosed is very adaptable for brassire construction, particu--` larly the so-called "uplift" brassires and strapless brassires as these require considerable stii- Y ness of the cloth for the up-lift. The rigidly stiff materials used are very uncomfortable to wear and unnatural to behold and very often do not retain their original stiffness with laundering and dry cleaning. Those using stiffening which depend on starch and glue sizings become limp when the sizing is gone and' it disappears with wear, laundering and cleaning. This type of material is also uncomfortable to wear because it has paper stiffness at first and nothing at all after laundering or cleaning. The soft types deing and then replaced. Besides many health authorities believe that the pressure of the wires is unhealthy.

Using stitched felt as disclosed, however, even an entirely strapless model brassire can be made vwithout benefit of wires or honing. At the same time, the stitched felt has a resilience and softness which is comfortable to wear and natural to behold and it retains its stiffness and original shape, no matter how many times laundered or dry cleaned. Also it does not need ironing after it is washed.

One thickness of felt, stitched very closely, is sufliciently stiff for the normal breast, but if more stiffness is needed, two layers of felt are stitched together instead of the one.

In Figure 6, I have shown how two thicknesses of material may be stitched together to provide greater stiffness as referred to in the last paragraph. These two thicknesses may be both felt or one may be felt and the other a woven cloth indicated at 26 in which the weave serves as a further reinforcement for the felt. Such cloth of course need have no stiffening material in it as when it is stitched to the felt by means of the stitching I2 and/or I4. The desired stiffness is secured in the manner already set forth.

In Figure '7, I have illustrated a pattern IDb from which a suitable brassire base may be formed. The pattern, it will be noted, is merely cut from a section of the stiffened cloth, has a circular shape and is provided with a V notch, the sides of which, when secured together as by means of stitching 20, form a substantial coneshaped base as illustrated in Figure 8,

Stiffened cloth of the character disclosed is also suitable as a base for shoulder pads 22 as illustrated in Figure 9. The base is indicated at I0c and forms the liner for the shoulder extension pads, or the stiffened cloth is merely covered on both sides and the assembly secured together as der pad. This, of course, in case it is desirable pend on shoulder straps pulled up very tightlyy to produce the uplift and these cut into the shoulders and are extremely uncomfortable to Wear and when boned, they prevent the wearer from bending over in comfort. The brassires with wire construction are unsatisfactory' because as a rule the wires must be removed when launderto have the pad built up to greater thickness than one or a plurality of thicknesses of felt cloth or built up to some desirable shape to fill out the shoulders of the wearer in a desirable manner. A shoulder pad of this character is relatively light and comfortable to wear. The stiffened cloth herein disclosed is relatively inexpensive to manufacturas/et fulfills the necessity for a stiffened but flexible base for belts, brassires, collars and in fact wherever stiffening is needed. The possibility of repeated launderings highly recommends the. use of a material of this type as well as the fact that truly comfortable wearing can be achieved by its use.

Some changes are possible without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope. I claim as my invention'. l.v A stiffened material for belts, brassire ,shoulder pads and collars consisting of a fabric of stitching being spaced closely so that adjacent rows of stitches engage the same fibers of the 5 6 fabric to prevent breakdown of the fibers of the REFERENCES CITED fabric when said stiiened material is laundered. 2 7. y

2. A stiiened material for belts, brassires, The 10H0 mg references are of record m the shoulder pads and collars consisting of a fabric me of this' patent: of felted wool bers provided with rows of sewt 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS ing machine stitching extending both longi udi l nally and laterally across the cloth, said rows Nuroo Schlg'llller Decnagelggg being spaced closely so that adjacent rows of 1355177 Sollen "Oct '12 1920 stitches engage the same fibers of fabrics to pre- 1997995 Bowen Apr' 16 1935 vent breakdown oi the bers of the fabric when 10 2411462 Plehn NOV' 19 1946 said stifened material is laundered.

HERMINE GOLDBERG. 2,419,514 Wolf Apr. 22 1947 

